Just realized I spent a whole weekend trying to fix a single page's grain direction

I was putting together a small leather journal, a gift for a friend, and everything was going smooth until I got to the endpapers. I'd cut them from this beautiful marbled sheet I got from a shop in Portland, but when I pasted them down, one just would not lay flat. It kept bubbling up, no matter how much I smoothed it. Took me, I kid you not, about six hours of fussing (and a lot of muttered words) before I finally held the sheet up to the light and saw the tell-tale lines. The grain was running the wrong way compared to the text block. I'd been so focused on the pattern I completely missed checking it. Had to scrap that sheet, recut a new one the right way, and start over. It's one of those basic things they teach you, but it's so easy to forget when you're in a groove. Anyone else ever get tripped up by something that simple?

2 comments

2 Comments

claire_butler18d ago

Oh man, that grain direction thing is a classic. I keep a little arrow stamp now and mark the back of every sheet right after I cut it. Saves so much headache later. What kind of marbled paper was it?

adams.vera8d ago

Honestly that arrow stamp idea is genius, I need to get one. I read this whole blog post about how paper fibers expand and contract with humidity based on grain direction. If you bind a book against the grain, the pages can get all wavy and pull on the spine over time. Tbh it made me feel better about messing it up so many times before. The marbled stuff I ruined was some old Italian paper, the kind with the really bright swirls. It was a total waste.